I believe that all centers that appear in space – whether they originate in biology, in physical forces, in pure geometry, in color – are alike simply in that they all animate space. It is this animated space that has its functional effect upon the world, that determines the way things work, that governs the presence of harmony and life. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
There are some geologists involved with prospecting for oil and other hidden resources who can pick up a rock and say, ‘Yes, there’s oil under there.’ A geologist who has been studying those kinds of rocks for 10 or 20 years is able to make that pronouncement. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
But in practice master plans fail – because they create totalitarian order, not organic order. They are too rigid; they cannot easily adapt to the natural and unpredictable changes that inevitably arise in the life of a community. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
We define organic order as the kind of order that is achieved when there is a perfect balance between the needs of the parts, and the needs of the whole. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
The more living patterns there are in a place – a room, a building, or a town – the more it comes to life as an entirety, the more it glows, the more it has that self-maintaining fire which is the quality without a name. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
It is not possible to make great buildings, or great towns, beautiful places, places where you feel yourself, places where you feel alive, except by following this way. And, as you will see, this way will lead anyone who looks for it to buildings which are themselves as ancient in their form, as the trees and hills, and as our faces are. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
The structure of life I have described in buildings – the structure which I believe to be objective – is deeply and inextricably connected with the human person, and with the innermost nature of human feeling. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
Drawings help people to work out intricate relationships between parts. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
From a sequence of these individual patterns, whole buildings with the character of nature will form themselves within your thoughts, as easily as sentences. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
The buildings that I build very often have a dreamlike reality. I don’t mean by that they have a fantasy quality at all, in fact quite the reverse. They contain in some degree the ingredients that give dreams their power… stuff that’s very close to us. Christopher Alexander Read Quote
